The Summer In Review (2014)

Here is my long awaited review of this summer's movies, or at least the ones I saw. I didn't get to all of them, but I'm happy with what I did see.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Total waste. I already talked about this movie so I won't go too much into detail, but I'll just say again that this is one of the worst examples of corporate filmmaking in years. It does have some good aspects, but the negatives kept me from even remotely enjoying this movie. 1 Star

Godzilla

I'm writing this on the same day I wrote my initial Godzilla review, so go read that. Not perfect, but still an enjoyable night at the movies. 3.5 Stars

The Purge: Anarchy

I don't know what to say about this one. One hand it's terrible. The acting is weak (except Frank Grillo), it's not even remotely scary... and yet it was tons of fun. The concept of the Purge is dumb, but it works as a social satire. It was an improvement over the first Purge movie, which took this great concept and turned it into a weak remake of The Strangers. This one was showing us city streets during the Purge and all the insanity going on. It's my guilty pleasure of the summer. 3 Stars

X-Men: Days Of Future Past

I didn't think it was as great as some other people did, but it was still a great franchise fixer. It's rare to see a broken down franchise like this one return to glory, so it was cool to see. The cast was great, the action great, and the story very ambitious. I do wish they answered some questions (How is Xavier alive?), and it was bit less populated with plot holes, but it was still great. I hope they keep the old X-Men cast, although the new one is pretty great. 4 Stars

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes 

This was an outstanding movie, one of the best big budget summer blockbusters in years. I loved it, I loved every bit of it. Well, maybe Jason Clarke and Keri Russell could have been a bit less bland, but that's the only issue. It was an epic story, with one of the best post apocalyptic worlds I've ever seen in a movie. It did a great job selling the tragedy of what's happened, especially with Gary Oldman's character. I love how you can understand every character, even the villains. No matter how evil Koba is, or how some of the human blatantly and cartoonishly hate the apes, you still understand where they're coming from. Andy Serkis needs an Oscar. Badly. That man is a genius. Well done. 5 Stars

Wait, what do you mean there's no Pixar movie this year?

Guardians of The Galaxy 

What can I say about this that hasn't already been said? This movie is a total blast. It was funny, action packed, exciting, suspenseful and incredibly entertaining. The visuals are incredible, but its heart still manages to be bigger than its effects budget. It shows what happens when the filmmakers care about making a good product, despite it being a big budget summer movie. 4 Stars

Boyhood

I don't really equate this with summer since I saw it in October, but it did technically come out in the summer. I'm not writing a third review of it, so I'll again say this is an outstanding movie, easily the best of the year. 5 Stars